Seating or reclining furniture
This invention relates to seating or reclining furniture. A back rest or arm rest is disposed for adjustment on the seating and/or reclining surface. The back rest or arm rest may be positioned in different areas of the circumference of the furniture (e.g., sofa) and can bend along the adjustment path so that they can adapt to the shape of the circumference, i.e., the contour of the circumference of the seating and/or reclining surface.
Latest DE SEDE AG Patents:
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to furniture having a seating and/or reclining surface and at least one back rest or arm rest connected to the former and adjustable with respect to the seating and/or reclining surface such that it can be positioned in various circumferential areas of the seating and/or reclining surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
WO 03/030689 describes a sofa in which one or more back rest are adjustable along a rail in the form of an arc of a circle. European Patent 309 021 A also describes a sofa having various individual back rests that can be positioned. German Utility Model DE-U-20217809 describes a single pivotable back rest on a sofa which can be positioned and moved along a rail, for example. U.S. Patent A-2003/0061655 describes a sofa or bed having a pivotable back rest, optionally positionable on one or the other longitudinal side. German Utility Model DE-U-8901762 describes a sofa having two pivotable rigid back rest parts which are designed so they are adapted in shape to the seating surface which is in the form of an arc of a circle in part and can be positioned on it in various positions. Therefore the seating options can be altered by 180°. Finally, German Utility Model DE-U-9404758 discloses a sofa having a stationary back rest to which cushions can be attached adjustably.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe object of the present invention is to improve upon seating or reclining furniture having a back rest that can be positioned variably.
This is accomplished with furniture of the type defined in the preamble, having the characterizing features of claim 1.
Due to the fact the at least one back rest or arm rest is designed to be articulated and/or flexible itself so that it adapts in a controlled manner to the seating surface when positioned along same, largely any shape of the seating surface may be selected and nevertheless the back rest can be positioned at any point on the seating and/or reclining surface. The restriction to contours of the starting surface having a simple arc shape is eliminated, and the circumference thereof may have concave or convex sections where the back rest or arm rest can be positioned.
In a preferred embodiment, the seating surface then has both concave and convex sections of the circumferential contour and the back rest(s) is/are preferably positionable along the entire circumference of the seating surface and/or reclining surface. It is thus possible to create a sofa with a direction of seating that differs by 180° and with a different shape of the free seating surface. The back rest preferably extends beneath the seating surface. It is likewise preferable if the back rest covers the end face of the seating surface, in particular covering it completely. In this way, the control means which control the bending movement of the back rest can be designed so they are not visible. In particular, this is also the case when the control means are arranged beneath the seating surface. Preferably at least one rail is provided as the control means on which at least two carriages per back rest can be moved on the rail by sliding or rolling them and are connected to the back rest. The control means are preferably designed so that they not only control the bending movement of the back rest in the movement of same but also carry the back rest and support it against the forces that occur when a user of the furniture reclines against the back rest. Furthermore, each back rest is preferably formed by five or seven elements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSExemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in greater detail below on the basis of the drawings, in which
In the present patent application, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described, but it should be pointed out clearly that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the following patent claims.
The back rest preferably consist of several elements 10 that are joined together in an articulated fashion and are adapted to the circumferential contour when moved along said contour by control means.
The rigid parts 20 thus form a back rest that essentially does not yield when one person rests against it and/or a back rest which yields only due to its padding.
Instead of or in combination with the plurality of rigid parts 20 joined together in an articulated fashion, one or more flexible back rest parts may also be used, these parts being flexible in the direction of movement but as a rigid as possible with respect to the forces occurring when a person rests against the back rest. Corresponding back rest parts may be made of plastic and/or composite materials or metal. Instead of the control means shown here with the rail and carriages, it is of course also possible to have the back rest guided and/or controlled by a rod design having varying lengths of the rods. The rod length is adjusted, for example, by one or more control curves so that it is also possible to control the shape of the back rest according to the circumferential contour of the seating and/or reclining surface 2 in such a manner.
In the embodiment shown here, the carriages 16 of the control means together with the rail 12 at the same time form the support for the back rest 3, 4 against the forces acting on them when a person leans against them. However, this function may also be separated from the control function, as indicated in
Of course the preferred arrangement of the control means shown here, i.e., the rail 12 beneath the seating surface shown in this example is to be understood only as an example. Control means could also be provided in the form of a rail on the circumferential surface 5 of the seating and/or reclining surface. The control means could also be arranged on the top side of the edge 42 of the seating surface 2, e.g., in the form of a groove-shaped hollow rail in which journals of the back rest engage, said journals protruding from the bottom side of the back rest that covers the seating surface 2. In the latter two cases, however, the control means, e.g., in the form of the abovementioned rails, are visible where the back rests are not located so that it must be embodied as a design element of the furniture accordingly.
The invention has been explained on the basis of back rest. Instead of or in addition to back rest, however, one or more arm rests may also be designed and provided according to this invention.
While I have shown a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that the invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. Furniture (1) having a seating and/or reclining surface (2) and at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest connected to the former and adjustable with respect to the seating and/or reclining surface such that it can be positioned in various circumferential areas of the seating and/or reclining surface, characterized in that at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest is formed from a plurality of elements (10) connected in an articulated fashion and/or one or more elements that are flexible in the direction of adjustment and can be influenced to bend in the adjustment by the control means (12, 16, 18) such that the back rest or arm rest adapts itself essentially to the circumferential contour of the seating and/or reclining surface (2) along the adjustment path or at least along a part thereof.
2. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the seating and/or reclining surface (2) has a circumferential contour (30, 31, 32) that is both concave and convex.
3. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one back rest or arm can be positioned along the entire circumference of the seating and/or reclining surface.
4. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that it has two separately positional back rests (3, 4) or arm rests.
5. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest is formed from separate rigid parts (20) which are connected together in an articulated fashion by hinges (15) in the adjustment direction and they each form an element (10) with the respective upholstery, whereby the at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest is formed in particular by five or seven elements (10).
6. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest partially covers the seating and/or reclining surface (2).
7. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest covers the circumferential surface (5) of the seating and/or reclining surface, in particular completely.
8. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the control means (12, 16, 18) are arranged essentially below the seating surface.
9. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the control means also support the back rest (3, 4) or arm rest and support it against the forces that occur when someone leans against it.
10. Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the control means include a rail (12) which determines the desired shape of bending of the back rest (3, 4) or arm rest.
11. Furniture according to claim 10, characterized in that the rail (12) has essentially the same contour as the circumferential contour of the side face and in particular is a self-contained rail.
12. Furniture according to claim 10, characterized in that the rail is part of the understructure of the seating and/or reclining surface and in particular forms the base of the furniture with struts (13).
13. Furniture according to claim 12, characterized in that the control means comprise multiple carriages (16) which can be moved by sliding or rolling on a rail (12) for each back rest or arm rest, these carriages being attached to different elements (10) of the back rest or arm rest.
14. Furniture according to claim 13, characterized in that the carriages include on both sides of the rail and above the rail, plastic sliding parts (18) in contact with the rail and in particular another sliding plastic part (19) which reaches beneath the rail.
15. Furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one back rest or arm rest can be positioned along the entire circumference of the seating and/or reclining surface.
16. Furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that it has two separately positional back rests (3, 4) or arm rests.
17. Furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest is formed from separate rigid parts (20) which are connected together in an articulated fashion by hinges (15) in the adjustment direction and they each form an element (10) with the respective upholstery, whereby the at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest is formed in particular by five or seven elements (10).
18. Furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest partially covers the seating and/or reclining surface (2).
19. Furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one back rest (3, 4) or arm rest covers the circumferential surface (5) of the seating and/or reclining surface, in particular completely.
20. Furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that the control means (12, 16, 18) are arranged essentially below the seating surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 19, 2003
Publication Date: Aug 2, 2007
Patent Grant number: 7762629
Applicant: DE SEDE AG (Klingnau)
Inventor: Hugo De Ruiter (Eindhoven)
Application Number: 10/583,522
International Classification: A47C 17/04 (20060101);